Centre for Competitiveness of the Visitor Economy
We are addressing competitiveness issues in the visitor economy across firm, sector and destination levels.
Spotlight on our research
Our research has great impact, and we are proud to highlight our achievements through a series of short films, told by our research authors.
Research aims
We aim to address equality and diversity in employment and conduct studies of future labour markets, productivity, career mobilities, skills, flexible employment and entrepreneurial migration, while examining other aspects of competitiveness at both firm and destination levels, such as advances in destination branding, visitor satisfaction, innovation, revenue management, and risk and disaster impacts.
We also aim to maintain our world-leading position in demand-forecasting research, which provides a scientific foundation to support businesses’ and governments’ decision making to improve their competitiveness.
Research themes
Our research focuses on four key themes:
Economic modelling and forecasting
Research theme lead: Dr Jason Chen
This research theme focuses on developing and applying cutting-edge methods in economic analysis and forecasting in the context of tourism, hospitality, transport and events. Members of this theme work on a wide range of areas such as tourism demand, economic impact of the Visitor Economy, firm performance, productivity and tourism competitiveness while pushing the boundaries of econometric, time series and spatial economic modelling and forecasting techniques.
Innovation, entrepreneurship, risk and uncertainty
Research theme lead: Professor Allan Williams
Innovation and entrepreneurship are at the core of this theme. Research on innovation focusses on the process of innovation in the firm, paying particular attention to knowledge and uncertainty, but also addressing the role of innovation in policy areas such as sustainability as well as in academia. Innovation research is strongly linked to investigations of entrepreneurship in the public, private, and third sectors, with gender and migration being important lines of research. Investigations of risk and uncertainty also extend beyond the firm to the analysis of consumer preferences and behaviour.
Future of work and labour mobility
Research theme lead: Dr Tracy Xu
Future of work and labour mobilities are at the core of this theme. Members of this theme investigate labour productivity and wellbeing, migration, gender issues, and technology-enhanced employability of future workforce in the visitor economy. This theme supports research on how work in the visitor economy is changing, the internal and external forces that support the change, and their implications on organisational performance, employee wellbeing and dignity.
Visitor decision-making, behaviour and destination marketing
Research theme lead: Dr Marion Karl
This theme of research focuses on the consumer behaviour side of competitiveness. Research from this theme includes topics such as tourists’ and visitors’ decision-making, tourism experiences, destination choice and influencing factors, tourist and visitor behaviour, or visitor attraction and destination marketing as well as management.
Covid-19 research in hospitality and tourism
Our research aims to understand the needs and requirements of businesses and travellers to be able to return to a new normality when it comes to travelling and the prosperity of businesses.
Research projects
Life after-death: knowledge trajectories after innovation failure
Principal investigator: Dr Isabel Rodríguez
Start date:
End date:
Principal investigator: Eden Xiaoying Jiao
Start date: January 2023
End date: December 2024
A conversation about menopause: supporting women's wellbeing in the workplace
Principal investigator: Dr Tracy Xu
Start date: November 2022
End date: November 2022
Co-creating equitable, diverse and inclusive travel and tourism (CrEDIT)
Principal investigator: Dr Bora Kim
Start date: August 2022
End date: March 2023
Digital employee management interfaces
Principal investigator: Dr Tracy Xu
Start date: May 2022
End date: July 2022
Exploring the barriers to co-creating diverse and inclusive travel experiences for BAME tourists
Principal investigator: Dr Yoo Ri Kim
Start date: February 2022
End date: July 2022
The effects of social media bragging on employees at workplace
Principal investigator: Dr Hongbo (Daisy) Liu
Start date: September 2021
End date: September 2022
Engaging new travel audiences: understanding the Black travellers’ decision-making process
Principal investigator: Dr Albert Kimbu
Start date: May 2021
End date: September 2021
Tourism recovery, risk and uncertainty
Principal investigator: Professor Allan Williams
Start date: March 2021
End date: August 2021
Start date: March 2021
End date: November 2021
Understanding the landscape of inbound tourism measurement
Principal investigator: Dr Jason Chen
Start date:
End date:
Social and economic impacts of arts in Surrey
Principal investigator: Professor Gang Li
Start date:
End date:
Review of evidence of elasticities relevant to tourism in Scotland
Principal investigator: Dr Jason Chen
Start date:
End date:
Principal investigator: Jin Soo Lee
Start date: January 2020
End date: December 2021
General-to-specific modelling with Bayesian bootstrap aggregation in tourism demand
Principal investigator: Professor Haiyan Song
Start date: September 2019
End date: August 2022
Towards an impactful national association for UK's arts festivals sector
Principal investigators: Dr Shi (Tracy) Xu, Dr Yanning Li
Start date: May 2019
End date: July 2019
Women's entrepreneurial journeys through tourism in sub-Saharan Africa
Principal investigator: Dr Albert Kimbu
Start date: January 2019
End date: September 2019
Women's journey through innovation in the tourism industry
Principal investigators: Dr Cristina Figueroa Domecq, Professor Allan Williams
Start date: September 2018
End date: August 2020
Marketing capability of Chinese exhibitors in overseas countries
Principal investigator: Jingna Wang
Start date: July 2018
End date: July 2021
Creating the tourist satisfaction index of China inbound tourism from Britain
Start date:
End date:
Socio-economic impact of Clean Sky 1
Start date: 2016
End date: 2017
Visitor forecasting for Shanghai Disney Resort: impact on Disney’s pricing strategy
Start date: 2015
End date: 2015
Cross-border regional innovation system integration
Principal investigators: Dr Teemu Makkonen, Professor Allan Williams
Start date: 2014
End date: 2016
Labour productivity, work flexibility, and international migration in hotels
Principal investigators: Professor Allan Williams, Professor Andrew Lockwood, Sangwon Park
Start date: August 2013
End date: March 2015
Destination branding: tourism and events in northern regions
Start date: 2013
End date: 2016
Key factors for SME competitiveness in the context of globalisation
Start date: 2013
End date: 2015
Visitor forecasts of the Asia-Pacific region
Principal investigator: Professor Haiyan Song
Start date: December 2012
End date: Ongoing
Principal investigators: Professor Allan Williams, Dr Isabel Rodriguez
Start date: June 0016
End date: May 2018
Principal investigators: Professor Allan Williams, Professor Gang Li, Hania Janta
Start date: March 0014
End date: March 2018
(Re)engaging with sport fans post-Covid
Principal investigators: Dr Yanning Li, Dr Bora Kim, Dr Shi (Tracy) Xu
Consumer purchasing intention in restaurants and hotels post-Covid-19 lockdown
Principal investigators: Dr Yoo Ri Kim, Dr Anyu Liu
Covid-19 impact on the Chinese air transport markets
Principal investigator: Dr Frankie O'Connell
Innovative pricing: Pay-as-you-wish as a means to attract customers to museums post Covid-19
Principal investigators: Dr Brigitte Stangl, Dr Margit Kastner
Service design and information provision requirements based on proxemics
Principal investigators: Dr Brigitte Stangl, Owen Grainger-Jones, Dr Margit Kastner
Spatial disparities in SME productivity: evidence from the service sectors in England
Principal investigators: Dr Tiwasing Tiwasing, Dr Yoo Ri Kim, Katiuscia Lavoratori, Temitope Akinremi, Diletta Pegoraro
Gender, Entrepreneurship and Social Policy Institute (GESPi)
The Gender, Entrepreneurship and Social Policy Institute aims to influence policy and social change for inclusive development in the tourism, hospitality and service-related sectors by creating networks and pathways for knowledge exchange between stakeholders.
Partners
We have strong collaborations with world-leading institutions in tourism research, and also collaborate with governments, businesses and tourism organisations nationally and globally. We would like to collaborate with other leading research institutions and build strong links with national and international organisations and industry partners to generate wider research impact beyond academia.
Upcoming events
We don’t currently have any upcoming events. Check back soon for further announcements.
Find an expert
Professor Gang Li
Director of the Centre
Researchers
Dr Jason Chen
Associate Professor in Tourism and Events Management, Director of Postgraduate Research
Professor Anita Eves
Professor of Hospitality Management
Dr Marion Karl
Senior Lecturer in Tourism Marketing and Management
Dr Bora Kim
Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management; Director of Studies, SHTM
Dr Albert Kimbu
Reader, Co-Director Centre for Sustainability and Wellbeing in the Visitor Economy
Dr Yanning Li
Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) Events, Organisations and Operations
Dr Daisy Liu
Senior Lecturer in Hospitality
Professor Emily Ma
Professor
Dr Frankie O'Connell
Reader in Air Transport Management
Dr Sumeetra Ramakrishnan
Associate Professor
Dr Isabel Rodriguez
Lecturer
Dr Brigitte Stangl
Senior Lecturer in Tourism, Director of the Centre for Digital Transformation in the Visitor Economy
Dr Lorna Wang
Co-Director, Centre for Research on Ageing and Generations, and Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Revenue Management
Professor Allan Williams
Chair in Tourism and Mobility Studies
Dr Tracy Xu
Associate Professor in Hospitality; Co-Director of Future of Work Research Centre
Surrey affiliated members
Dr Irem Bozbay
Senior Lecturer in Economics
Dr Cristina Figueroa Domecq
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos I
Professor Ying Zhou
Professor of Human Resource Management; Director of Future of Work Research Centre
Postgraduate research students
Sara Dalir
PhD researcher
Marietta Fragkogianni
Postgraduate Research Student
Nusrat Jahan
PhD Researcher
Kevin Li
PhD Researcher
Max Li
PhD Researcher
Tingyu Liang
PhD Researcher
Batilda Moshy
PhD Researcher
Sandro Rero
Postgraduate Research Student
Darina Svobodova
PhD Researcher
Sofie Voss
Postgraduate Researcher
Yiqi Wang
Postgraduate Research Student
Zhenni Wu
PhD researcher
Xiaoyi Xu
Postgraduate Research Student
Yang Yu
Postgraduate Research Student